Angels
by Lychenne Laki
Summary: Hidan's past meets my present, the passing of time and the changing of the ages turn a chance meeting into something far grander.
1. Chapter 1

_Angels_

_The Village Hidden in the spectrum.__High in the mountains where the rivers run shallow and crash over a thousand waterfalls.__ A myriad of colours shine through the crystal droplets and when the light of a summer dawn shines across the insect wing one only has to close ones eyes. It__ sounds like paradise. But for __S__huy__a__ it was just her home..._

I awoke with a gasp, the air was cold. I rolled over and took my mothers photo in my hands, told her good morning kissed the frame and got to my feet. The wooden floor was freezing on my bare toes and through my thin dress. I looked through the glassless window in the wall of the shack we lived in – my father and me-and saw the ground glittering with frost. I heard my father stir in the room next to me and knew I would have to get some food ready before he awoke, if I didn't it would be the worse for me. I boiled some water and put on some breakfast for the old man.

With the rice softening in the pan I went out into the frost to clean my dirty face and hair in the well round the back. The air smelled of horses and a bonfire from the night before. The smell would get into my hair but I really didn't mind. I splashed some ice cold water onto my face to wake me up and when the ripples dispersed I could look closer at the reflection shining back at me from the black water. A streak of shimmering purples and golds glimmered back at me from the depths of the well. I saw a teenage girl, her face was framed with iridescent purple hair, and her eyes were a vivid green – an unusual colour in this part of the world. Her eyelashes were long and tipped with gold and her skin was so pale that in the right light her blue veins glowed through. I looked a lot like my mother, thankfully nothing like my father. I appeared delicate but the tough life of a kunoichi had hardened me, I gasped and dropped the jug of water I was carrying when a thought raced across my mind. Today was the day I became a jounin!

I'd passed the exam with the other ninja from my village and today was the ceremony, I rushed indoors with my wet hair slapping at my back, I needed my best clothes and shoes.

"Father!" I ran up to the unshaven drunk I used to call daddy, "father, today is the ninja ceremony, will you come and watch-" he cut my sentence short with a vicious backhand across my cheek and turned his back on me.

"No daughter of mine will become a ninja, women serve their place in the house and stay where they belong" he grunted and raised a bottle to his lips. A tear slid down my face and I fled the house with only one hurtful backwards glance. I grabbed the bundle of clothes I'd laid out the night before and escaped out of the back door, leaving it to blow closed in the wind.

I knew exactly where I was going, I'd found this place a long time ago but something told me I hadn't found it by accident. I knew the way there even in the dark, even in blizzards, even in the pouring rain. I scampered up muddy slopes and around the trunks of enormous trees, the leaves shone a million shades of green and the birds that flew around me displayed feathers of every imaginable tone. In this part of the village everything seemed more alive, and time seemed to slow down to a better pace, the grass was greener and the water was cleaner. The bundle I was carrying seemed to feel lighter and I practically skipped the rest of the way.

Here, up ahead I saw the first outcrop of rock that told me I was heading in the right direction. I danced past it and onwards through the twinkling and almost magical wood. Only a little further and I came upon a hollow, it was still filled with the morning mist and looked more beautiful than ever.

Here was where the mood changed, everything became still and the birdsong could not penetrate the crumbled stone walls, here was a temple. It used to be tall and grand but it appeared that time had taken its toll. All that remained was one great glass window still intact and standing up proudly, a low wall ran around marking the boundary, higher in some places than in others. A shallow pool in the courtyard was filled with water that shone with a mixture of colours – this wasn't called the Spectrum village for nothing. There were no chairs on the pale sand coloured stone, so I sat on the large floor tiles where weeds had been growing through for centuries. A clue to the church's age was the gigantic oak tree which had grown over one of the lower walls, it must have taken hundreds of years to get to that size and now it was supporting the crumbling architecture. The roof was long gone, so sometimes I sat here exposed to all weather. It didn't matter – I felt safe here.

I checked no one had followed me and danced down into the hollow where the holy church had stood since before my great great grandmother had drawn her first breath. I cleaned myself in the pool and pulled on my better clothes. Then I sat down to pray. My father jibed at me about it all the time, said I was stupid and that there was no one 'up there' looking out for us. Secretly I had proved him wrong. Not long ago in a training fight I'd received a fatal wound to the neck, a kunai had pierced my jugular and I fell unconscious through blood loss, everyone knew I was dead. And then I woke up.

This alone proved there was someone looking out for me, a miracle had happened to me. After finishing my prayers I got up and headed out of the wood and towards the town, today I would join the ranks of jounin that protected the village. Today I'd find a use for my life and fill this void that had grown inside me since my mother passed away.

Benches creaked, feet shuffled and small children whispered. I stood in the draughty hall, 22 chunin and me. The place was filled with parents and relatives, some were crying. I stood searching the rows of faces looking hopelessly for my father. He'd come I know he would! He wouldn't miss this would he? My one moment of glory! Then I saw him stagger in at the back, drunk of course but he'd made it hadn't he. I beamed at him but all he returned was a sarcastic snigger. Laughing at me even now, even after all my hard work. My attention was distracted, however when our village leader walked slowly up to the stage where we stood and began to call out names.

He moved along our row handing out shiny medals to the lucky young men and women. He eventually reached me at my place on the end. I noticed with despair that his hands were empty, there were no more medals left! He looked at me then hastily looked away.

"I'm...sorry, we couldn't pass a person like you" he said in a low voice that no one else could hear. He moved away and left me standing there with tears in my eyes. As if in slow motion I saw the front row of parents stand up and rush on their successful sons and daughters, hugging and congratulating. Hats were thrown into the air. My vision swam and I searched the sea of happy people looking for my own family, there in the corner was my father almost on his knees with drunken laughter. I couldn't hear him over the noise but I knew his words off by heart,

'Stupid woman! You'd never make it, just like your useless mother. Should have had a son...'

Silently I dropped off the stage and tore off my hat, I shook my hair free and left through the back door. I headed up the hill running and ripped off my ceremonial cloak leaving it lying in the dry grass. I pushed my way through the undergrowth and ripped off the white gloves that covered my hands. Finally I kicked off my high healed shoes so I could run faster. And boy could I run, I reached the temple breathless and red in the face but I felt better for it. I dumped my shoes on the floor and flopped down next to them, before I realized it, I was praying again.

I couldn't believe everything had gone to my father's plan. Without my mother to protect me I'd been used as a slave and been marked as an unlucky woman. My mother had died bringing me into this world so some viewed her death as my fault, and with her gone my bloodline limit would have to develop on its own with no guidance. In that respect I was both dangerous and an ill omen. Before long I would be married off to some rich man and never become a ninja – just as my father planned.

Tears leaked from my closed eyes but my mouth continued forming the words of my prayer. In this state I never noticed the shadow moving over me, never realized the man kneeling opposite me. I was not alone in this place anymore.

"Sshh now" were his only words. I looked up startled and was drawn into his violet eyes. This man wasn't from my village – purple was even rarer than green when it came to eye colour. In fact I'd never seen it before. The men in the stained glass window pictures had purple eyes I remembered.

"W –who are you?" I stuttered, pushing myself into a sitting position and staring at him. He wore baggy blue trousers and ninja sandals, he was topless. Round his neck was a silver pendant which I noticed matched the mosaic pattern picked out in black on the floor. A lot of things about him seemed to tie him to this church, but not to my village. He looked into my face and found confusion there.

"Who are you then?" his voice was confident and clear, somewhat cheeky and rude and it made me smile through my tears. He noticed my smile and grinned as well. "That's what it's all about – smiling through the tears" he said cryptically before nodding at me to continue.

"My name's Shuya" I explained, "I'm from the village just the other side of this wood, just been denied chunin status." I untied my headband and threw it across to him to look at.

"The village the other side of the wood?" he asked with a question in his voice, "this temple isn't built in a wood, and the only village over there is my village. I've never seen you before"

"What?" I asked, "I come up to these ruins every day, it just feels...right somehow."

"Ruins? What the hell? This temple is only a few years old!" he exclaimed and jumped to his feet. I saw him coming closer and rose to my feet to back away.

"I... have to go" I stammered and turned away. I fled through the trees, down the hill and home.

The fog moved in around our little hut and I contemplated the events of the past week, I'd hardly thought about the ceremony at all- my thoughts lay only with the temple and the man I met up there. I realized I had told him my name and got nothing in return. I worried about him constantly, he was on my mind every daylight hour, and seeing as I could find no sleep- every moonlit hour too. I hadn't found the time or courage to go back up to those ruins yet, so I skulked about in the gloom of my wooden hovel hearing my drunken father crash around and snore noisily. Tonight though was different, I felt tired and worn down from lack of sleep. I hadn't eaten much in days, I had no appetite from worrying my days away, but the night seemed to beckon to me.

Slowly I pulled a pair of boots on and crept across my room, lifting the shutters I climbed out of the window and landed softly on the damp grass. I left footprints in the dew but it didn't matter – the fog shrouded me already. With superhuman speed I made my way through the jungle of trees and bushes until the stark shape of the ruined temple loomed out of the mist. There was no one there.

I almost cried with disappointment and relief – both emotions came to me at the same time and I rushed down into the foggy hollow, in between the standing stones and white pillars. I searched every nook and cranny until I found myself stumbling back into the centre of the church. I stood inside the symbol on the ground that matched his necklace so very well, and a voice pierced the silence,

"Looking for me?"

I whipped around, my clothes rustled but that was the only sound. I searched the icy clearing for his face, his purple eyes his silver hair. The images that had haunted me these last few torturous days. I'd been pining for just a glimpse of him. How had this happened to me?

The first thing that caught my eye were his clothes and his incredible height. He must be over 6 feet tall and dressed outlandishly. The folks here mainly wore plain clothes but he was dressed in a full length cloak. It flapped about him majestically as he stood staring down at me, he was grinning again.

"I...you –where?" I stuttered and straightened up. If I stood tall I wouldn't look so unsure and frightened.

"I've been here all along, princess" he drawled, "but what brings you here in the middle of the night?" He flopped down onto the floor and crossed his legs completely at ease. I settled to the floor as well, mirroring his actions. He swept a hand through his perfectly slicked back hair, I did the same with my oddly coloured flyaway mop. We stared.

"What's your name then?" I asked of him, and absent mindedly drew patterns in the dust. My eyes met his.

"Why would I tell you that?"

I avoided his gaze once more, if he looked into my eyes he might see what was growing there. A flimsy connection with a complete stranger was all it was, but I didn't want him to see the extent to which he bothered me. And he did bother me.

I looked down to the pattern I'd been marking in the sand on the dry floor and noticed two things. One: why was the floor here dry when it had been raining all night? And two: I'd copied out the pattern on his necklace– a necklace I now realized to be a rosary. I looked up slowly and he glared right into me.

"Do you even know what that is?" he hissed. I shook my head. "You shouldn't concern yourself with things you don't understand" he narrowed his eyes and made to brush the symbol away. My hand shot out and he stopped. We didn't touch. I was still wary of him and so we sat there, my hand on one side of the symbol and his on the other.

"Tell me." I demanded

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because you're a heathen bitch like all the rest!"

"I come here twice every day to pray, if I'm a heathen then you're one too! What is this symbol and what does it mean?"

My defiant stare met his sarcastic one. The air seemed to vibrate between us. It was as if some magnetism was acting on us. Neither breathed, neither blinked. We sat still for a long minute, each assessing the other. He looked over my rough hair, plain face and odd clothes. I scanned his vibrant eyes and the way he wore his cloak, it was obviously a mark of high rank amongst his people.

"I know you're not a heathen" he commented after the long pause

"How's that?"

"A common bitch wouldn't have found this temple. I was thinking do you know what year it is?"

"Year of the horse...duh"

He leaned forwards conspiratorially, "see for me, it's the year of the rat"

I gazed at him for a split second then did the maths. "That means you're at least 6 years..."

"6 years what though? Forwards in time? Backwards in time? It's interesting, you saying this temple is in ruins-my people would never let it get to that state. I'm guessing, you're from the future."

"No you're from the past"

"This is my temple, you're the alien it's you who's in the wrong fucking time!"

"Just shut up already you're confusing me, I need to pray..." I shifted onto my knees and turned my back on him.

"But to who?" he whispered softly.

The question dug into me, it turned my blood to ice. It frightened me, because I realized then that I had no Idea who or what was listening to my prayers. I just did it because it made me feel better about the world, I froze up.

He saw me hesitate, "I think it's time I told you about this symbol" he twisted the rosary in his hand, winked and got up. "Later princess!" he called lazily and was gone between the marble arches. Before I could turn round he was gone again, not a sound or trace of him left. The swirls his cloak had left in the dust were gone, and the place seemed somehow empty without him. I rose and searched the bushes near the archway he'd gone through. I knew I'd find nothing.

Disspirited and frightened I returned to my home just before dawn. I had no one to get back for and nothing to wake up for. "Until the night..." I whispered to the empty skies.

Sleep was a long time coming. Every time I fell into a doze I'd see his sarcastic smile, hear his voice in my head telling me I was praying all wrong and then he'd disappear through mist as silver as his hair. I hadn't found an appetite for dinner and I was starting to look ill, not that anyone cared. I was a failed ninja, I had no sensei to guide me, and no mother to nurture me. No one needed to speak to me except the men looking to marry me off. I was becoming obsessed with the man at the church, but it was all I had to cling to. I clung with both hands.

**From Hidan's P.O.V**

Twice. Twice I'd seen her fucking face and twice I'd known she was not from this village. Who the hell dressed in such a way? And that strange hair colour, and the way she spoke.

'Oh fuck I'm doing it again' I thought. I promised myself I wouldn't think of her today. Too many important rituals to be done, too many people to see. A man barged past me, nearly spilling his food over my new robe.

"Fuck you!" I screamed aloud then noticed the long beard and magenta robe, "Father Baku, gomenasai" I bowed hastily.

He glared down at me disapprovingly, "You've only just earnt your immortality; it doesn't mean you're the king of the hill yet. You're the foulest mouthed priest I've ever ordained" with a huff he elbowed his way through the crowd. And left me standing there.

I continued up to the high temple by myself. Now I was immortal I was expected to participate with the serious rituals and I was scared. Apparently it hurt a lot. It was difficult to concentrate on anything when I had that girl's voice bouncing round my skull. I entered the inner halls and had to stop to take off my shoes and pray. The others around me saw my robe and had to clear the way to let me pass. Getting my immortality this early was pretty sweet, it meant I would be 19 forever and only lord Jashin could take that away from me.

My breath hitched as I found myself approaching the centre of the temple. It was closed off to nearly everyone, and had no windows and only this one door. It was guarded at all times. I half hoped the guards would deny me entry and I could go to my room and sleep, but as I drew near they lifted their weapons and I walked through with barely a nod in their direction. The corridor grew quieter and darker until the only sound and light came from the torches on either side of the thin passageway. Up ahead I could her chanting, the monks preparing the room for the ritual. Once I got there they'd have to leave, then only priests and higher priests were allowed in. My heart hammered in my chest, as if reminding me it was still there whether I needed it or not. As soon as this thing got underway it would be pumping my blood all over the stone floor. My palms were sweaty and by the time I approached the door I was psyched enough to jump at my own shadow.

I pushed it wide and strode in, feigning confidence. The bald monks got up from their positions around the sacred floor and filed out in a line. That only left me and two others, one for each point of the holy triangle. We didn't say a word, words would be inappropriate – even rude within the confines of this room. We knelt and began the lengthy prayers, at the end of which I would find out what it really meant to be a high priest of lord Jashin.

Covered in my own blood and gasping for breath I emerged from the temple into the cold spring morning. My fingers clutched at the gaping hole in my chest as if trying to pull it closed. I was amazed I wasn't dead – but that was the whole idea – only a priest with complete faith would take part in a ritual so intense. I put my hand against the stone wall to steady myself and I squeezed my eyes shut against the throbbing pain. It would be a while yet before I learnt to just enjoy it. In my left hand I now held my new weapon, it was a massive deadly triple bladed scythe. One blade for every side of the triangle – it made sense. It shone in the darkness with a light of its own. Inside the inner temple my other weapon was still lying inside the markings on the floor where I'd been stabbed through with it not so long ago.

I'd been so nervous, I'd hardly stopped to think that Jashin would never let me die. Not now. I leaned against the temple walls and watched the sun come up, contemplating my new position and life. I could do anything, go anywhere, forever. Suddenly I remembered the girl at the old church on the hill, might she still be there? I'd missed her again. The pressure of the ritual had forced her out of my mind but as soon as I was alone again, the memory returned. Could I make it up the hill in this state? I was willing to try.

* * *

**From ****Shuya's**** P.O.V**

I sat huddled in a blanket in the ruins of my favourite spot. My knees were tucked up under my chin and I wrapped the blanket tighter round my fragile form. The wind whistled through the standing stones and created an eerie wailing, the rain lashed at the outside but for some reason it never rained inside the tumbledown walls. I was thankful for that. I'd waited up nearly all night just to see him again. All day I'd toiled around the house doing mundane tasks to please my father, and as soon as the red sun set behind the fir trees I was out and running through the forest. I hadn't slept or eaten properly for weeks, I was only focussing on seeing that man again. I still didn't know his name.

He hadn't shown up for a week now. I was afraid it had all been part of some dream, but still every night I made sure I was here, waiting. I could see the sun sleepily rising again signalling the night was over. With a disappointed sigh I picked myself up off the floor and stretched my aching limbs. I folded my well worn blanket and began to walk away.

"Shuya!" a gravelly voice called out to me. I turned round, thinking in horror it was one of the elders of our village come to find me. They would surely hate the fact that I came here alone and prayed to a deity I didn't even know the name of. My eyes grew round, however when I realized it was him – the guy I'd waited so long to find. There was blood all over him – was he dying? Had he been attacked? He reached out to grab hold of the wall but missed and fell to his knees.

"Oh my god!" I breathed and rushed to him. I knelt down beside him and looked into his sparkling purple eyes. I didn't touch him – something, maybe some sixth sense stopped me. He choked and blood ran out of his mouth, I glanced down and saw a gaping hole in his chest.

What was going on?

"I...I'm fine. Seriously" he insisted and slouched against a pillar. "Don't look so concerned, this is nothing!" he continued upon seeing my expression.

"What's happened to you?" I asked with a quaver in my voice, "have you been attacked?" I desperately wanted to reach out and stroke his pale face, to comfort him, but it didn't look as if he needed my attention. He cringed away when I made to inspect the wound, and tried to shuffle off.

"Tell me what happened!" I demanded, my pent up anxiety of the past week was frustrating me.

"I had to...had to come and see you" he said through ragged breaths, "the ritual..."

"Ritual? I don't understand?" I said loudly trying to get just a smidgeon of information out of him before he collapsed. I could be unfeeling at times. He sat up straight and glared into my eyes as if willing me to know what he knew. But I knew nothing.

"I have a lot to tell you..." he began, then sighed and digressed into the whole story he had 'forgotten' to tell me all those nights ago. He told me what the symbol meant, how he had devoted his life to his god, how he had now become high priest and completed his first ritual – one he must now do without question. He told me his real name and the rank of immortality he had now achieved, and he told me all this...

"...because I want you to share it with me..." he reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a shiny silver pendant like the one he wore himself. It glittered in the faint light as he hung it around my neck, wearing it I felt empowered and I wondered why he had chosen to present me with this. "Because you deserve it..."

He said this last sentence as little more than a whisper into my ear. With all my heart I wanted to believe him, but some part of me refused – the same part of me that was screaming out for me not to touch him, not to brush my hand against his. I sat back and looked at him,

"Take me to your village" I suggested. But we both knew it was more than that. It was a test. Would the laws of his religion plus the laws of time and space let me pass from here to his village more than a hundred years in the past? We stood.

He led me out through the archway and through the early morning mist. I couldn't see much except trees and fog and his silver head bobbing away in front of me. After a pause he turned around.

"We're here" he announced.

I strode up to him and looked out, eager to see the place he called home. I gasped with surprise as I looked and a lone tear rolled down my face. Below me I saw an empty field, with the remains of grand architecture pushing up like broken teeth through the grass. I saw fallen statues laying on their sides, their faces worn away through the passing of time. Hardly a wall remained upright and yet with the light at this angle and Hidan by my side I saw something else. The light fell on the ruined village and lit it up, and, like a mirage the old city was revealed in golden light. Like ghosts the grand temples seemed to rise up from the foundations and gleam for a moment before me. The sun illuminated ancient pathways and intricate mosaic courtyards, fountains, churches and shrines. And yet if I looked closely I could still see the grey damp field behind it all, the golden city was only a reflection of years gone by – a phantasm appearing beneath me because lord Jashin made it so.

I turned to the man standing at my side, looking eagerly forwards, "Do you see it?" he asked

"Yes... but I cannot go there with you"

"It's not meant to be... not yet" he murmured as realization dawned, I met his eyes and an understanding passed between us. For the first time he reached out to take my hand. My breath caught as I felt not the firm grip of flesh and blood fingers, but the gossamer grip of a spirit dancing on my skin. He pressed his lips to my hand and bowed in the custom of his people, then he was gone, limping down the hillside and turning slowly into nothing. The sun moved and I was plunged back into the grey reality of the rainy once more.


	2. Chapter 2

The next days proved to be the hardest of my life. Religiously I went to the temple each morning and night to pray. I never saw him, except in my vivid dreams. For weeks I dreamt only of him- the first touch on my hand, the things he'd told me, the things we'd shared. I told no one of my pilgrimage to the top of the hill every morning – but never again did I see his village picked out in golden sunlight. I pined away inside my damp shed by day, eating nothing never speaking. I only left at night to secretly practise my killer Jutsu, then the other dreams began.

It began one stormy night about two moths after the night we said goodbye. I had barely closed my eyes when I was hit with a vivid flash, I shook in my bed as the full force of the vision manifested itself in my mind. It was him. I cried out and reached forwards through my tears just for one utterance of his holy voice, one last grip of his hand. He seemed to be reaching for me too, but something was coming between us. The heavy scent of earth reached my senses. NO! The scent of the grave! Purple eyes! And I awoke.

Since then I'd had more of these dreams, and I realized they meant something. He was leading me somewhere, leading me to him. Every time it was the same, the flash of his eyes and the scent of damp earth. A feeling of suffocation, hatred and despair. Sometimes a face other than his would appear, it was a young boy with dark hair scraped back in a pony tail, a scent of burning always followed this boy's apparition and a feeling of eternal rage. I was trying to research the symbol which this boy had on his headband but no one seemed to want to speak of it. Sometimes, and this was very rarely, I would see another man in my dreams. He was tall and had haunting glowing eyes, nothing much else was ever explained to me about him. Only a flimsy feeling of casual hatred was attached to him, and I had never seen him before in my life.

I documented all these separate things in the hope of making sense of them and finally re-uniting myself with my beloved priest, but I could never put them together and work it out.

Well, not until this morning. I was walking slowly back from the temple when I came across a group of young ninja. And that boy was amongst them, the same smell of burning followed him here. He had the same hairstyle and the same lazy look in his eye. He barely looked at me, and why should he? I looked like a peasant. My clothes were dirty and thin, my hair was wild and I wore my headband under my clothes where no one could see it. He passed by with little more than a sneer, and his female companion (who was frankly dressed like a tart rather than a konoichi) dared to ask me directions. I gave them the wrong directions on purpose then followed them.

I had no idea what mission they were on but I was determined to find out what connection they had to Hidan, and hopefully extract what information I needed. I would stop at nothing to get it. They took a lot of breaks and never placed guards when they slept. On the third night I jumped them.

Landing stealthily in amongst their camp I raided their bags looking for anything that might point me in the right direction. Since I'd followed them, the dreams had gotten stronger as if Hidan was prompting me – telling me I was on to something here. I rummaged through the boys discarded jacket and found exactly what I was looking for. A photograph. Hidan and the other man I'd seen in my visions were in it, and over it were the words stamped in red APPREHENDED. This proved their guilt!

The temptation to kill them was too great and even though I might have needed him for information or maybe as a bargaining tool, I slit the throat of the fat member of their 3 man team. He barely had time to cry for his mother before his crimson life force was spilled at my feet. Next was the whore girl, I clamped a hand over her mouth and bound her to a tree. With a kunai held to her throat I kicked the lazy boy awake.

"Tell me where he is, teme!" I cursed and brandished the photograph. I shook then, and a feeling of joy passed through me – it was Hidan I knew. We were connected in an impossible way and he was urging me on.

"I'll kill her, don't fucking think I won't!" I screamed and pressed the blade on her neck harder.

"Calm down" the arrogant boy tried to reason with me, but I'd never been one for words.

"three...two...on-"

"STOP" he squealed holding up both hands. Obviously he was soft – trained to talk his way out of situations like this. "Don't kill her! I love her!" he scrunched up his fists and exhaled – the smell of smoke reached my nose and disgusted me.

"Like I loved Hidan!" I wailed as tears rolled down my face. "Where is he?" I narrowed my eyes and chakra began to flow out and around me.

"I can't tell you!" he miserably sighed, so I pushed the knife on the girls throat until she bled, the warm blood cascaded over my hand.

"Shikamaru please!" she pleaded to him to give away information in exchange for her life. Stupid konoichi. Whichever village they were from it was an ignorant one. They needed to be more forwards thinking with their fighting.

"He's..leaf village, Nara clan forest...just go!"

"You buried him in the ground, don't you know he can never die?" I laughed at their simple stupidity. "Jashin-sama lets us live forever"

"Oh not another one" The girl laughed, and without hesitation I pushed the blade into her so fast she was dead before the next snigger could escape her rouged lips.

"Ino!" Shikamaru wept. In an instant I was gone, with the picture clamped between my fingers. I left him cradling her dying form in the presence of the corpse of his friend. The leaf village was my destination, Hidan awaited me in his earthly prison.

Three weeks later, border guards saw a lone woman entering Konoha, she was carrying no visible weapons and there was a strange glint in her eye. She was bone-thin as if she hadn't taken enough breaks in her travels and hadn't bought food for days. Anyone else would have died from exhaustion but I, Shuya am blessed. No one looked at me as I passed amongst the market stalls and noodle bars of their village. I saw a pair of lovers kissing in an alley one with pink hair and one with yellow, the later had whiskers. This place sure was strange.

I elbowed my way through the masses until I came to a great house. The Japanese characters spelling out 'Nara' were painted on the white gates and beyond a forest filled with deer stretched to the horizon. So far I'd been lead here by my dreams – they kept me going, as if promising what would be waiting for me at the end. I knew I would be too conspicuous if I travelled through their land in this form, and so I changed.

I'd been able to do this for a while, I closed my eyes and imagined myself slipping slowly as If into sleep. I could transform into any reptile I wished, maybe that explained my hostile personality. Most of the time I chose a dragon or perhaps a crocodile, this time though I'd have to think smaller. I focussed, then opened my eyes and blinked. This form would get me past their shadows and sharp eyes, I scampered across the dry leaves and into the forest. My chosen form was a gecko. I had spikes along my back and I was about 10cm long, my scales shone multicoloured as I ran on 4 legs through the forest to the clearing I'd seen in last nights vision.

No one knew I was here except maybe Hidan, deep below me in the earth, my little clawed feet skipped along the ground and between the sun dappled tree trunks. I could tell I was drawing closer, and sure enough up ahead of me the trees thinned out, and a wide space was visible. In the centre of the space the earth had been recently disturbed. I knew this wouldn't be easy.

A hundred shadow lines supported numerous charms and exploding notes. If I tripped even one of them the place would explode, I wasn't going to go about this in a delicate manner, however. I'd been training my ultimate new jutsu and now was the time to use it. I crept amongst the shadow lines and beneath my feet I felt sure I could feel a heartbeat, his heartbeat. It was reverberating up to me through metres of cursed earth and binding jutsu. It was time.

I transformed back into my human form, careful not to trip the wires until the right time, then I drew the sacred symbol of Jashin into the earth around myself. I drew it with a thin stand of light then prepared for my ultimate attack. I focussed some chakra then dropped to the ground and sent out a shockwave into the earth and the air and all my surroundings. Everything was blown to shit, trees were ripped up and the grass was incinerated. A crater was blown out of the earth around me and debris went flying a mile into the sky. To my satisfaction I wiped out their pathetic forest for miles around and dead deer rained down on their lawns.

I was surrounded by a halo of rainbow light, it was supporting me above the chasm that had opened up in the forest floor. When the dust settled I looked down – a body lay in the pit. Oh hell had I killed him? I broke the jutsu and slid down the slippery mud and into the shadows below.

**From Hidan's P.O.V**

She came tumbling from above as I picked myself up from my prison and stretched for the first time in months. I was so fucking hungry you wouldn't believe and my akatsuki robe was all ruined. I'd lived for centauries but only got caught up with those villains recently, before then I'd just been wandering about spredin' the faith kinda thing. After the decline of my village there was nothing for me to do so I travelled. But however far I ran I never forgot that girls face – the girl from the 'ruined temple' all those years ago. Now it seemed she'd caught up with me – or had I caught up with her?

Anyway she came plummeting from above completely out of control and with scales down her back, she'd ripped my leg to ribbons before she even said hello – friendly eh. Our eyes locked for the first time in months – for her, for me it seemed like millennia. She stepped towards me in the narrow hole and our closeness set my heart racing. I looked down on her and inhaled sharply when I saw the necklace glinting around her delicate neck – so she still wore it! I reached out to her and drew her close, we embraced in the cold and the dark of my former prison as she lit up a disk of power under our feet to lift us to freedom. I was weaker than I'd ever felt in my life, and she wasn't looking great.

"We have to get out of here" she whispered ever so lightly into my ear. I felt the tickle of her breath and it made me lightheaded – we were so close now after so much time. It was like a fairy tale. Except that I was told fairly tales didn't happen in real life. I sank to my knees on the cool grass in the forest and she cupped my aching head in her hands.

"Come with me" she breathed, and the sweet cinnamon of her breath awoke me, I realized those were the exact words I'd used all those years ago, and I smiled at the memory. As I sat cleaning the mud from my rosary she pulled out her old headband and tied it firmly around her waist. We stood. With the light of the dying sun in the west to illuminate our way, my lips met hers for the first time and our partnership was complete.

Once glance was all we needed, and we turned hand in hand to run towards the sunset. Never stopping, never looking back. Eternity was ours.


End file.
